Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, suggested Senate Republicans seeking reelection will likely distance themselves from their party's current front-runner, Donald Trump, if the business mogul becomes the nominee.
Trump stoked new controversy over the weekend, when he declined in a CNN interview to disavow former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who endorsed the billionaire. Fellow presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., continued to criticize Trump over the issue on Monday, ahead of the "Super Tuesday" primaries. Asked if there is some point that he would need to distance himself from Trump, Cornyn told reporters Monday evening, "If I'm running for re-election I think they'll — because it's the next race on the ballot, president, the Senate — you will find candidates who have to separate themselves from the party's nominee if somebody like him is the nominee."